HORROR GENRE CONVENTIONS

& FILM FORMSEMMA COLLINS

YEAR 13

COWA

o Places often associated with a ‘dark’ past,

E.g. Murder had taken place in the building .

o Small Communities or isolated places.

o Forrest’s , or places cut off from society.

Setting

o Abandoned buildings such as Asylums, hotels

and old buildings.

o Often set at night, or when its raining ,or

drowsy weather.

o Big family homes

Technical Codes

• High and Low camera angles are used a lot when filming a horror film. High camera angles

are used as a connotation of fear and shows isolation . And Low angle shots connotate

power, and shows a strong and sometimes scary character.

• Point of View shot- See what the protagonist/antagonist see’s to create tension

• Handheld shots are often used to also create tension, but it also gives a sense of realism for

the audience which helps create the feeling of the unknown and terror.

• Use of Diegetic sounds such as heavy breathing, footsteps and a heartbeat help to create

tension. There Is also use of Non-diegetic sounds such as dramatic music to create tension,

for example this is used when building up to a jump scare. This is often accompanied with a

‘stab’ or ‘sting’ when the jump scare happens.

• Extreme close ups of faces, usually occurs when there is a jump scare or a victim is being

attacked.

Iconography • The haunted house (forbidden chamber)

• The disfigured monster/ supernatural entity

or Psycho killer

• The screaming victim (in modern horror

‘the final girl’ )

• The murder weapon: knife, stake,

chainsaw.

• Low-Key lighting (chiaroscuro)

• Binary oppositions of good and evil.

• Darkened places where the ‘monster’

lurks: woods, cellars.

• Blood and body parts (body horror)

Narrative • Characters picked off one-by-one.

• Taking risks (Omniscient narrative)

• Characters being punished e.g. Sex =

Death in teen slashers.

• Monsters who never die.

• Slashers- Often a death in the first five

minutes.

• Supernatural- A character often gets

possessed.

Characters

Characters in Horror films often follows Propp’s charcter

theory

• The main protagonist, often a girl which follows the ‘Final

girl’ theory

• The antagonist, either a monster, someone with a

mental health issue, ‘alien’,physco killer, spirit/demon etc.

• Teenagers who usually are committing a ‘sin’ and die

very quickly.

• Creepy children

• Often a figure of authority, a father , policeman etc.

• An ordinary family